This week, we sat down with a pillar of our community. A member of MAKH Senior Leadership and former Elite Kaine Planning Team Member, CMDR Chronosbane.
This is a Commander who shaped the Kaine strike team 'Vorpal Wing' and who played a pivotal role in Makhai's formation and development as a squadron.
But it is with equal parts celebration and sadness that Makhai has to say farewell to this influential and enigmatic Leader, as he locks down his shipyard indefinitely - steppinq away from Commander life to start a new chapter.
Here are the highlights...
CMDR Chronosbane, thanks for talking to us.
I was going to say that indefinitely is a strong word, but it turns out the definition includes "an unspecified amount of time"; Indefinitely it is.
Let's go back to the beginning. The Swords of Makhai declared their home system on the Grom / Archer border, a mere 35 ly from Sol. The pledge to Nakato Kaine came afterwards. How challenging was that?
At the time it seemed on the ridiculous side of feasible, and was viewed even more unrealistically by other squadrons.
But that whole period was defined by purposely putting ourselves in challenging positions. Dropping into Sol's backyard was a pretty gutsy move from the get go, why not also try to represent a power whose border was 150ly away from us as well?
In hindsight it was a perfect decision, Kaine was a new power, not tied up with the baggage of the Fed/Empire conflict, and a chance for Makhai to be a part of a power that reflected our own place in this galactic community as disruptive upstarts!
Your title at Makhai was Arch Strategist. Looking back at your time with Vorpal Wing, what campaign are you most proud of?
The answer to that is easy, and a little obvious - Great Leap Forward was the nexus of all my experience, organizing, political/community ties, and narrative building. It achieved something unheard of (Mary Blue, who wield's multiple times the number of members Kaine does, and has access to a buff on the most broken powerplay loop available) to this day has broken our record by only one system. I wish I could have been in some other squad's VCs the day that cycle report came through.
You mentioned Princess Aisling there. Any significant activity seems to be at the mercy of Soontill Relic supply of late. Where do you stand on this subject?
The runaway return from Soontill relics in boom and civil liberty is just bonkers.
And to make matters worse, there are two powers who get an additional boost to merits off rare goods specifically, and they happen to be the largest powers in the game.
Just... why.
When relics go live, the community jacks up into a frenzy, desperately trying to keep up with what everybody else is doing. When someone does manage to kill the relics, they're f*cking heroes. Everybody takes a sigh of relief, thankful it's over.
I think the biggest thing for me is how little effort it takes - not just by merit return, but by how universally applicable it is. No planning, no nuance. Just volume and repetition.
With over 400 squadron members and over 1000 Cmdrs in your comms server, the growth of Makhai has been, frankly, astonishing. You were there for it all. What sets this squadron apart from others do you think?
Yeah, so, this community is truly special. Forget the numbers and the membership side of it, there's just SOMETHING we've got here. We've had a number of people tell us this after just a few days, and those of us in leadership talk about it with each other too.
But WHAT is it? What's the sauce?
Damned if I know.
There's something about the way these narratives and ownership of squadron goals and purpose are shared with our members that makes this feel like we all co-own this squadron.
And finally, what would you like to say to your squad mates?
I think the biggest thing I have to say is that I'm sorry. This community is really special to me and I rode my role so hard that it's taken me away from it.
I'm hopeful that some time away and the passing of a monumental life shift that's been planned for years now, will clear the air and allow me to return.
When I do, I'm so excited to start this all over again. To earn the friendship and trust of new Commanders, as I joke and reminisce with the old ones. And probably crash into the landing pad and get blown up by station lasers.
You can read the full interview here at: reddit.com/r/SwordsofMakhai
--------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings CMDR
Are you looking for a well organised, global and inclusive squadron that's created a positive and supportive community? Are you interested in pledging to the Lime Green Queen to be part of her legacy?!
Come and check us out at:
https://discord.gg/swordsofmakhai
o7
This is a Commander who shaped the Kaine strike team 'Vorpal Wing' and who played a pivotal role in Makhai's formation and development as a squadron.
But it is with equal parts celebration and sadness that Makhai has to say farewell to this influential and enigmatic Leader, as he locks down his shipyard indefinitely - steppinq away from Commander life to start a new chapter.
Here are the highlights...
CMDR Chronosbane, thanks for talking to us.
I was going to say that indefinitely is a strong word, but it turns out the definition includes "an unspecified amount of time"; Indefinitely it is.
Let's go back to the beginning. The Swords of Makhai declared their home system on the Grom / Archer border, a mere 35 ly from Sol. The pledge to Nakato Kaine came afterwards. How challenging was that?
At the time it seemed on the ridiculous side of feasible, and was viewed even more unrealistically by other squadrons.
But that whole period was defined by purposely putting ourselves in challenging positions. Dropping into Sol's backyard was a pretty gutsy move from the get go, why not also try to represent a power whose border was 150ly away from us as well?
In hindsight it was a perfect decision, Kaine was a new power, not tied up with the baggage of the Fed/Empire conflict, and a chance for Makhai to be a part of a power that reflected our own place in this galactic community as disruptive upstarts!
Your title at Makhai was Arch Strategist. Looking back at your time with Vorpal Wing, what campaign are you most proud of?
The answer to that is easy, and a little obvious - Great Leap Forward was the nexus of all my experience, organizing, political/community ties, and narrative building. It achieved something unheard of (Mary Blue, who wield's multiple times the number of members Kaine does, and has access to a buff on the most broken powerplay loop available) to this day has broken our record by only one system. I wish I could have been in some other squad's VCs the day that cycle report came through.
You mentioned Princess Aisling there. Any significant activity seems to be at the mercy of Soontill Relic supply of late. Where do you stand on this subject?
The runaway return from Soontill relics in boom and civil liberty is just bonkers.
And to make matters worse, there are two powers who get an additional boost to merits off rare goods specifically, and they happen to be the largest powers in the game.
Just... why.
When relics go live, the community jacks up into a frenzy, desperately trying to keep up with what everybody else is doing. When someone does manage to kill the relics, they're f*cking heroes. Everybody takes a sigh of relief, thankful it's over.
I think the biggest thing for me is how little effort it takes - not just by merit return, but by how universally applicable it is. No planning, no nuance. Just volume and repetition.
With over 400 squadron members and over 1000 Cmdrs in your comms server, the growth of Makhai has been, frankly, astonishing. You were there for it all. What sets this squadron apart from others do you think?
Yeah, so, this community is truly special. Forget the numbers and the membership side of it, there's just SOMETHING we've got here. We've had a number of people tell us this after just a few days, and those of us in leadership talk about it with each other too.
But WHAT is it? What's the sauce?
Damned if I know.
There's something about the way these narratives and ownership of squadron goals and purpose are shared with our members that makes this feel like we all co-own this squadron.
And finally, what would you like to say to your squad mates?
I think the biggest thing I have to say is that I'm sorry. This community is really special to me and I rode my role so hard that it's taken me away from it.
I'm hopeful that some time away and the passing of a monumental life shift that's been planned for years now, will clear the air and allow me to return.
When I do, I'm so excited to start this all over again. To earn the friendship and trust of new Commanders, as I joke and reminisce with the old ones. And probably crash into the landing pad and get blown up by station lasers.
You can read the full interview here at: reddit.com/r/SwordsofMakhai
--------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings CMDR
Are you looking for a well organised, global and inclusive squadron that's created a positive and supportive community? Are you interested in pledging to the Lime Green Queen to be part of her legacy?!
Come and check us out at:
https://discord.gg/swordsofmakhai
o7
![[VR] Bulbulunufus](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/261/261245.jpg?1671230473){kind=avatar}
. I had an experienced pilot operating and leaderboard veteran operating without the buff ask me yesterday if using the relics was "safe" or would trigger FDev anti-exploit mechanisms! If by that he meant "make FDev realise in 5 years too late that they created a system that exaggerates already problematic pre-existing imbalances", he may be right!